Mt. Hood "Tragedy" - Is the Bourgeois Press Encouraging People To Believe In Wilderness Rescue Miracles?

Is the Bourgeois Press Encouraging People To Believe In Wilderness Rescue Miracles?

By Varlet

Little has been said about the wisdom of their decision to attempt to scale one of the tallest mountains in the Cascade Range during the worst time of the year for such an adventure. I realize that the families of the victims are holding out hope that their loved ones will be found to have survived the hellish conditions they encountered this week; I do not wish to add to their suffering by publishing this article. It is in the interest of preventing the loss of lives in the future that I present this piece, as my research into this tragedy has turned up some very interesting information regarding the quality of information available to the public regarding weather conditions in the region, and the facilities available to those who attempt to scale these very dangerous peaks.

Mt. Hood "Tragedy" - Is the Bourgeois Press Encouraging People To Believe In Wilderness Rescue Miracles?

The tragedy that unfolded this past week at Mt. Hood, Oregon has been covered extensively by the bourgeois press, in its own inimitable and interminable way. Much smoke and little light has been shed on the incident in which it appears that three "experienced" mountain climbers have lost their lives.

Little has been said about the wisdom of their decision to attempt to scale one of the tallest mountains in the Cascade Range during the worst time of the year for such an adventure. I realize that the families of the victims are holding out hope that their loved ones will be found to have survived the hellish conditions they encountered this week; I do not wish to add to their suffering by publishing this article. It is in the interest of preventing the loss of lives in the future that I present this piece, as my research into this tragedy has turned up some very interesting information regarding the quality of information available to the public regarding weather conditions in the region, and the facilities available to those who attempt to scale these very dangerous peaks.

The party of three "experienced" climbers ventured out on Dec. 6th. I was first of all somewhat surprised to see that these men were described as "experienced" climbers in the press, since they all hail from mountainless regions of the country: two were from Dallas and one from Brooklyn, New York City. I have no idea how many times a year they are able to climb mountains as treacherous as Mt. Hood, but I assume it's not something they get to do on a regular basis, like many residents of, say, Washington or Oregon states.

It has become chic in recent years for all kinds of amateurs to venture out to climb even the most difficult peaks, including Mt. Everest. Unfortunately, this is not a game that should be played by overconfident people who believe that rescues from these remote locations are as easy to obtain as ambulance service in a major city. Rescuers are faced with extremely dangerous tasks when it comes to the extraction of injured climbers, even under the best of conditions. And when I say best of conditions, I don't mean late December conditions at the 11,000-foot range in the Cascades.

Most of the fatalities that have occurred on Mt. Hood have in fact occurred under the "best conditions" during the peak tourist season, from May to September. This mountain remains covered in snow and ice even in July. Day-hikers during these "warm" conditions on the mountain can find themselves trapped in blizzard conditions in the middle of summer. The conditions during the past week were comparable to the worst weather conditions ever encountered on any mountain anywhere in the world - a blizzard, with 0 visibility and 162 KPH (100 MPH plus) winds. Any person facing wind chills of that level could be expected to freeze to death in a matter of hours, not days.

Reading the available literature on climbing Mt. Hood, on various websites of real experts in mountain climbing, such that available on the website of the Portland Mountain Rescue team (http://www.pmru.org/links/climbing.html), one quickly comes to the realization that climbing Mt. Hood in the dead of winter is not the sort of thing an "experienced" climber would undertake lightly, if at all. Trying to assemble the type of information that these lost climbers might have had available about prospective weather conditions, the difficulty of climbing Mt. Hood in December, etc., reveals some stark realities about the quality of information available to these men. There is some good information available that they either never read or ignored, like the availability of emergency locator devices (called "Mt. Hood Locator Units" or "MLU"s at one outfitter) that they could have rented for as little as $6.00 a day, which would have pinpointed their location on the mountain to within a few feet. Apparently no one in their party felt such a device was worth the money; either that, or they were unaware that these devices existed and were readily available (See: http://www.mountainshop.net/summerrentals.html). The decision not to carry an MLU is not a decision likely to have been made by an "experienced" mountaineer, though it is type of decision too often made by people who have an inflated sense of their own skills and abilities.

Were the locator units available for rental? My research shows that at least one outfitter does offer these rentals year-round. However, it is not their responsibility to monitor the units they rent out. In order for your "MLU" beacon to be received by prospective rescuers, you have to be reported missing to the local authorities, such as the Sheriff's office. Only then will they start to see if they can pick up the signal from your MLU.

And that's not all. According to the people I asked at one outfitter, although they "weren't sure" how long the batteries would last once the pin is pulled on an MLU, activating the device, their "consensus" opinion was that it would run for "about 3 or 4 days". In the case of the climbers on Mt. Hood in the latest tragedy, that might not have helped them much even if they had these devices with them, since they were not reported missing until late on Dec. 10th. It is unlikely that if they had activated their MLUs say, on the 7th, that they would still be transmitting a signal on the 11th, which was the first day on which the weather had cleared to the point that rescue efforts could get under way (http://www.pmru.org/pressroom/headlines/hood3missingClimbers121106.html). Even then, the conditions were so bad that rescue efforts had to be called off by mid-afternoon.

It's perhaps interesting to note that it was not until May 1, 2000 that then-president of the United States Bill Clinton issued an order to end the deliberate degradation of GPS signals being broadcast by US Defense Dept. satellites - by 2006! GPS signals were being deliberately degraded for "National Security" reasons, so that the "enemies of freedom" would not have the benefit of accurate navigational aids paid for by US taxpayer dollars. Here is an excerpt from this order:

"STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT REGARDING THE UNITED STATES DECISION TO STOP DEGRADING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM ACCURACY

"Today, I am pleased to announce that the United States will stop the intentional degradation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals available to the public beginning at midnight tonight. We call this degradation feature Selective Availability (SA). This will mean that civilian users of GPS will be able to pinpoint locations up to ten times more accurately than they do now. GPS is a dual-use, satellite-based system that provides accurate location and timing data to users worldwide. My March 1996 Presidential Decision Directive included in the goals for GPS to: encourage acceptance and integration of GPS into peaceful civil, commercial and scientific applications worldwide; and to encourage private sector investment in and use of U.S. GPS technologies and services. To meet these goals, I committed the U.S. to discontinuing the use of SA by 2006 with an annual assessment of its continued use beginning this year.

[...]

"My decision to discontinue SA was based upon a recommendation by the Secretary of Defense in coordination with the Departments of State, Transportation, Commerce, the Director of Central Intelligence, and other Executive Branch Departments and Agencies. They realized that worldwide transportation safety, scientific, and commercial interests could best be served by discontinuation of SA. Along with our commitment to enhance GPS for peaceful applications, my administration is committed to preserving fully the military utility of GPS. The decision to discontinue SA is coupled with our continuing efforts to upgrade the military utility of our systems that use GPS, and is supported by threat assessments which conclude that setting SA to zero at this time would have minimal impact on national security. Additionally, we have demonstrated the capability to selectively deny GPS signals on a regional basis when our national security is threatened. This regional approach to denying navigation services is consistent with the 1996 plan to discontinue the degradation of civil and commercial GPS service globally through the SA technique.

"Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a military system, GPS has become a global utility. It benefits users around the world in many different applications, including air, road, marine, and rail navigation, telecommunications, emergency response, oil exploration, mining, and many more. Civilian users will realize a dramatic improvement in GPS accuracy with the discontinuation of SA. For example, emergency teams responding to a cry for help can now determine what side of the highway they must respond to, thereby saving precious minutes."

Isn't it nice to know that GPS technology existed for decades but was not made available to the public in order to further the "war against Communism"?

Now, it is recommended to anyone who climbs any mountain at any time of the year that they leave notice with some friends, family members or the park service describing their date of departure, their planned route, and their planned time of return, so that if they are late in returning, rescue efforts can be launched immediately. The climbers on Mt. Hood in this latest case "started this climb Dec. 6, and left notes in their vehicle, at a ranger station and a warming hut explaining their route up and down the mountain and listing the equipment -- including food, fuel, waterproof sacks and shovels -- that they carried.

"December is not a typical climbing month on Mount Hood. The three men took on the north face rather than more popular south routes because it offers ice and terrain to train for more difficult mountains."

Another fateful decision: taking on the more challenging north face route at a time of the year when one could expect conditions to deteriorate rapidly at any time.

The leaving of notes describing their route and estimated time of return is all perfectly fine and responsible. However, I have read some alarming reports (which "experienced" climbers of Mt. Hood are well informed of) about the utility of leaving this information with the Forest Service rangers. It appears that doing so might be as useful as leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in the snow - because it is reported that oftentimes the rangers don't read the documents left for them by people hiking up Mt. Hood!

The US Forest Service webpage devoted to "Climbing Mt. Hood" was difficult for me to find when I searched for it earlier today. "File Unavailable" said the link I followed from one website. Once I was finally able to access the page, I found this information:

"Mt Hood was first known to the Northwest Indians as Wy'East. Mt Hood's summit rises to 11,237 feet above sea level. Geologists agree that Wy'East , like all the Cascade volcanoes, may only be 'resting' from more active volcanic activity.

"As you ascend Mt Hood, you enter the Mt Hood Wilderness Area. The Mt Hood Wilderness, 47,100 acres protected under the Wilderness Act, is heavily visited, so please do your part to 'leave no trace' when visiting the area.

"Wilderness permits are required. These permits are free and self-issued at the Climbers' Registration in Timberline's Wy'East Day Lodge.

"Group size is limited to 12. Given the heavy use on Mt Hood, consider climbing mid-week to enhance your opportunity for solitude."

That's it. No warnings about the fact that 100 people have lost their lives climbing this mountain or anything like that. You have to navigate to another page, innocuously entitled "Detailed Climbing Information" to find out that hiking up Mt. Hood is not a cakewalk. There you will find the following information:

"Before starting out

* Be knowledgeable and practiced in mountaineering skills. Know how to use your equipment. * Be in good physical condition * Check the weather and avalanche forecasts and climbing condition web page. * Plan your route. All routes are TECHNICAL CLIMBS. There are no hiking trails to the summit. * Rent and wear a Mountain Locator Unit. If a seach is initiated, the activated unit can be used to pinpoint your exact location. * Climb with a competent and experienced leader. Avoid climbing alone. * Carry adequate clothing, food, water and equipment. (see list) * Tell someone at home your destination, route, time due back and equipment you are taking. When you are overdue, that person should call 911. * Fill out a wilderness permit and registration - In day lodge if starting at Timberline."

Again we see that if these "experienced" climbers in the latest incident had taken the time to read this, they would have been reminded about the MLUs.

At what time of year should a "knowledgable" person "practiced in mountaineering skills" attempt to climb Mt. Hood?

"When to Climb

"Time Of Year:

"Late spring and early summer are the most popular time of year to climb most routes. While hazards exist every month of the year, conditions during this window are typically better. During late summer and fall, rockfall is significant and nearly impossible to mitigate and the cravasses are more exposed. Winter months can have some outstanding climbing conditions, but storms are more common."

"Storms are more common"; yet the winter months offer "some outstanding climbing conditions". As well as some of the most rapidly changing and dangerous weather conditions on Earth. This is a positive encouragement to people to go ahead and climb Mt. Hood whenever the spirit moves them to do so. Not such great advice, as it turns out. I'll have more to say about the quality of the weather advisories available to the general public later.

We also have this list of equipment needed to safely climb Mt. Hood provided to us by the USDA Forest Service:

"What to wear / What to take

"This is a beginning list. Route selection and conditions may require more gear

That's quite a list - for EACH member of a climbing party to carry! In the summer! And "conditions may require more gear"! How much of this swag the unfortunate climbing party had decided to lug up the side of Mt. Hood on Dec. 6th may never be known for sure. Sherpa guides might be nice to bring along if you're going to try this climb in the dead of winter! As Frank Zappa once said: "A mountain is something... you don't want to fuck with!" Seriously!

Now we know our unfortunate "experienced" climbers had at least some of these items, because two ice axes and a rope were found abandoned in an empty snow cave by the rescue parties.

Let's get back to the question of the notices hikers are supposed to leave for the Forest Service's rangers, so the authorities will be able to launch a timely rescue effort once they check those notices and determine that someone is overdue.

First of all, you don't actually fill out a form describing your itinerary and estimated time of return and then give it to an actual ranger. You fill out the form and put it in a little mailbox of some kind. The only problem is, as I mentioned before in passing, just because you LEAVE such a note doesn't mean that anyone is going to actually READ it or anything!

According to the Oregon Mountaineering Association, registration of your route with the Forest Service is "optional. There is a climbers register in the WyEast day lodge foyer at Timberline on the South Side of the mountain. No other trailheads have climbing registers, just self-issue wilderness permits."

So it is entirely possible to get to a trailhead with your route information notice all neatly written out, only to find that there's no place to leave it for a ranger.

"If you register please remember to return to record that you are back ok. Many people don't do this and it makes it difficult to tell if somebody is really on the mountain or whether they went home."

This is important, as it's likely that a lot of people forget to report in before they leave the mountain, thereby creating a multitude of false alarms that the Forest Service employees must wade through... when they get around to it. Keep reading:

"Please be aware that the Forest Service does not always check registrations on a regular basis. If you are late returning it may not be discovered for several days. Early in the season (and even during high season at times) weeks worth of registration forms have been known to accumulate. Registering does not guarantee that anyone will discover you are overdue, nor does it guarantee a rescue will be initiated"!! (My emphasis).

Nowhere on the Forest Service website do we read about this little problem with these "self-registration notices"! I'll bet that a lot of people would be surprised to know this! But wait! There's more:

"Unfortunately climbing registrations have reportedly been the basis for privacy violations during rescue efforts. They have also shown up in Forest Service investigation files on people they dislike (whether they are for that person or for somebody suspected of having even a tenuous connection to them). Given these facts and poor monitoring of the forms it may be best to be sure that somebody you trust has all pertinent information such as your planned route, list of equipment and supplies, and time expected back as well as the amount of time your group is prepared to be out for. Count on this person to initiate a search/rescue effort directly with the county if necessary."

This would make a nice subject for an intrepid investigative journalist to follow up on! But not me; I'm just a dillettante muckraker donating some of the free time I have a surfeit of during this, my latest extended period of unemployment in our booming economy!

We are also reminded about the limitations of the MLUs:

"While a Mt Hood locator unit will help rescuers locate a party in poor weather it will not summons [sic] help. In addition to leaving your plans and preparations with a trusted party it is advised that parties carry some communications such as a cell phone or VHF radio."

What about the weather on Mt. Hood? Where can I as a prospective climber of Mt. Hood get up-to-the-minute weather information? No problem... it's right there on the USDA Fores... wait a minute. When did the USDA swallow up the Forest Service anyway? Oh that's for another article, by another writer.

OK. Back to the story. Weather Information is right here on the USDA Forest Service's website, under "Climbing Conditions"...(click)... oh, oh...

OK so there's weather information available, and plenty of it; in fact, there may even be too much of it!

Just for the sheer thrill of it I looked up an archived weather report from Dec. 7th, the day after our "experienced" mountain climbers set off on their ill-fated journey into oblivion. What kind of weather information might they have had available to them on the 6th?

The website I checked only went back to the 7th. I really don't think it matters though, because it appears that, initially, the conditions on Mt. Hood on the 6th and 7th were about as good as it probably ever gets on that mountain in December. In fact you might say the conditions were extraordinarily good, and may have convinced the climbing party to undertake a hastily organized expedition in order to take advantage of some unseasonably mild weather that occurred at least from the 7th until about the 9th. The following weather report is quite long, and tedious, but I'll reprint it here in full so you can savor the writing style of a weather forecaster who should be writing those tags that come on pillows and such. I mean, I read a LOT of weather reports, being something of a severe weather fan, and this guy's style is as dry and dull as a Christian rock concert. It's culled from the archives of the "USDA Forest Service Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center" website, so I guess it would be a logical place to look for a weather and conditions forecast for Mt. Hood. Remember, this forecast was issued the day after the ill-fated climbing party had set off for the summit of Mt. Hood. The forecast can be found here: (Source: http://www.nwac.us/products/archive/SABNW.10)

NWAC Program administered by: USDA-Forest Service with cooperative funding and support from: Washington State Department of Transportation National Weather Service National Park Service Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Pacific Northwest Ski Area Association Friends of the Avalanche Center and other private organizations.

This forecast is prepared primarily for federal, state and private snow safety programs in Washington and Northern Oregon.

WAZ513-518-519-019-042-501-502-ORZ011-081700-

&&

WEATHER SYNOPSIS FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

The upper ridge of high pressure that has been in the area over the past two days has moved east of Washington and Oregon Thursday afternoon. This is opening the door to increasing south to southwest flow from an offshore upper trough that lies well offshore. A split upper flow directs two branches of the trough offshore with the stronger southern branch mainly expected to affect the Sierra’s of California over the next several days. The much weaker northern portion will gradually move over the Pacific Northwest beginning later Friday. A disturbance in the northern branch is moving northward over the Queen Charlotte Islands Thursday afternoon and causing increasing high clouds over the Pacific Northwest, especially the Olympics and northwest Washington Cascades. Freezing levels remain very high Thursday afternoon with many higher elevation mountain weather stations reporting temperatures into the 40’s. A strong temperature inversion exists under the high pressure with cold air near the surface east of the crest and through the passes, with quite warm temperatures at higher elevations. A moderate easterly pressure gradient across the Cascades is maintaining easterly upslope surface winds and clouds along the east slopes and over the passes Thursday afternoon. As the trough off California moves eastward more high clouds should spread over the forecast area Thursday night and into Friday under a gradually increasing south to southwest flow aloft. The weak northern portion of the trough should begin to affect the area with a chance of a little light precipitation later Friday and Friday night, mainly over the Olympics and possibly the northwest Washington Cascades however any amounts received should be light. Freezing levels also gradually lower Friday as the trough approaches.

Weak low level easterly flow may also cause some light snow flurries along the east slopes as the cool air lifts along the east side of the Cascade range. Otherwise higher elevation sites should be under filtered sunshine with gradually increasing high clouds as the offshore trough approaches.

&&

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

* OLYMPICS- Widespread high clouds and mild temperatures Thursday afternoon and night. Increasing clouds Friday with a chance of light rain. Cloudy Friday afternoon and night with periods of light rain or snow.

* WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR AND WEST OF THE CREST- High clouds Thursday afternoon and night and warm at higher elevations, but cooler and partly to mostly cloudy lower terrain near the passes. Mostly cloudy Friday with increasing high clouds. Mostly cloudy Friday night with a chance of a little light rain or snow at times.

* CASCADE PASSES, INCLUDING STEVENS, SNOQUALMIE AND WHITE PASSES- Mostly cloudy and cool Thursday afternoon and night with a continuing chance of local freezing fog or a few flurries below about 5000 feet, otherwise mostly fair higher elevations and continued relatively warm. Mostly cloudy Friday with increasing high clouds higher elevations and a chance of light snow lower elevations. Mostly cloudy Friday night with a chance of a little light rain, snow or local freezing rain at times.

* EAST SLOPES WASHINGTON CASCADES- Lower elevations: cool and mostly cloudy Thursday afternoon through Friday night with a chance of local freezing fog or a few flurries. Higher elevations: Variable high clouds and warm above about 5000 feet Thursday afternoon through early Friday. Increasing high clouds later Friday and Friday night with a chance of a little light rain or snow.

* MT HOOD AREA- High clouds Thursday afternoon and night and warm at higher elevations, but much cooler and partly to mostly cloudy lower terrain. Mostly cloudy Friday with increasing high clouds. Mostly cloudy Friday night with a chance of a little light rain or snow at times.

Cascade Snow/Freezing Levels refer to the northern Washington Cascades (N) through Mt Hood area (S). Central Washington Cascade snow levels (typically near Snoqualmie Pass) are normally midway between indicated N and S levels. Note that surface snow/freezing levels are common near the passes during easterly pass flow and may result in multiple snow/freezing levels.

&&

24 HOUR FORECAST OF PRECIPITATION IN INCHES OF WATER EQUIVALENT ENDING AT 4AM FRI SAT

EXTENDED WEATHER SYNOPSIS FOR SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY Several waves of energy should move inland mainly south of the area towards California as an upper trough of low pressure approaches the west coast Saturday and Sunday. The northern portion of the trough should gradually move across the area later Saturday into Sunday to produce periods of light precipitation at gradually lowering freezing levels. A stronger more consolidated flow aloft is expected to develop offshore by early Monday. This should be accompanied by a stronger surface low pressure area and strong frontal system. This frontal system should move across the forecast area during the day Monday. Very strong wind and moderate to heavy precipitation are expected late Monday and Monday night. Initially, freezing levels should rise through Monday afternoon and lower significantly behind the front late Monday night.

EXTENDED FORECAST FOR SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY Occasional light rain or snow showers Saturday through Sunday with the greatest shower activity likely late Saturday and early Sunday. Increasing rain or snow early Monday. Rain or snow becoming moderate to heavy late Monday and Monday night.

NWAC weather data and forecasts are also available by calling 206-526-6677 for Washington, 503-808-2400 for the Mt Hood area, or by visiting our Web site at www.nwac.us.

Kramer/Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center

$$

**************************

Well I warned you that it was long and tedious! This guy could give a totem pole to sleep. I guess it never occurred to this forecaster that people's LIVES depend on these forecasts, and that they should be written in plain English so that they can be understood by people who don't have a PhD in Meteorology!

Most written weather reports (even the "technical forecast discussions") are not so devoid of clearly elucidated meteorological information as this one is, thank god. Despite the fact that I do not possess a PhD in Meteorology (or anything like it), I can glean from this rather opaque document that there was a temperature inversion in the area of Mt. Hood on Dec. 7th that had the temperatures near the summit in the 40s during the day and that it was colder on lower elevations. These unusually mild conditions were supposed to persist through Thursday and Friday. Then things get murky. "A little light precipitation" might occur late on Friday. A careful and patient reader might see that winds at the 9000 foot level were going to be steady and somewhere in the 25-45 MPH range. That results in wind chill temperatures well below freezing (29-26 degrees wind chill temp. based on a basic temperature reading of 40 degrees). Add to this perhaps a freezing drizzle, well it's not exactly Miami Beach.

The extended forecast is where I take exception to this report, because it gives absolutely no indication as to the kind of absolutely vicious weather that was about to descend on the Pacific Northwest that week, in which winds of 100 miles an hour were reported, along with heavy snowfall. Perhaps this is not the forecaster's fault, after all. The storms that were about to lash the Pacific Northwest, spoken of now as having been "memorable" and even "historic" were on Dec.7th still far out in the Pacific. His vague ramblings about "several waves of energy" about to move inland sounds more like a new-age message from a spirit guide than a weather forecast. He asserts that a "trough" was to pass through the area. "A stronger more consolidated flow aloft is expected to develop offshore by early Monday." This reads like it just came into the National Weather Service's office on the horn of a unicorn prancing on a moonbeam. It's only in the last sentence of this long, rambling exercise in tedium that we learn that "Very strong wind and moderate to heavy precipitation are expected late Monday and Monday night. Initially, freezing levels should rise through Monday afternoon and lower significantly behind the front late Monday night." In fact, the conditions had become so bad by Sunday, the 10th, that the climbers had already sought refuge in a snow cave; and Kelly James, the climber who was found dead yesterday, had called his family on his cell phone to tell them that he and his friends were in trouble and that his companions had started to descend the mountain in an effort to get help. It was the last time that anyone would hear his voice.

***

So, what can we learn from this sad episode? Quite a bit, really. Mainly that it is unfortunate to take an inflated opinion of one's own survival skills with oneself into the wilderness. Also that it is not a good idea to count on the Forest Service for a timely rescue, because they aren't necessarily even going to read the itinerary you give them before you ascend a mountain here in Freedom's land. Budget cuts in the Forest Service mean not enough rangers to read unimportant things like your hiking itinerary, especially during the off-season.

We see that taking a Mountain Locator Unit is a very, very good idea if you're going to hike in wilderness areas. And that rescue teams can't rescue you if they don't know where you are, or if the weather is bad - in other words, the worse the conditions get, the less likely you are to be rescued in a timely manner, when every minute's delay can mean the difference between life and death. You don't just call for help with your cell phone and expect them to send a helicopter right after you.

We see that weather reports, like weather conditions themselves, are sometimes difficult to gauge and are subject to error. Conditions change with very little notice, especially in extreme environments like the tops of 11,000-foot mountains. Weather forecasts are not necessarily written with you in mind; in this case it probably never occurred to the forecaster who wrote that forecast on Dec. 7th that anyone would be foolish enough to try to climb to the summit of Mt. Hood in mid-December.

We see, also, that it is wise to stay in one place and not wander all over a big area looking for help. This past month 4 people have lost their lives partly because they chose, first of all, to do something ill-advised and dangerous, and partly because once they ran into trouble, instead of staying put, they set off to try to get to help. In the case in November, a family got lost in a blizzard after trying to take a "shortcut" through the mountains in their car. The wife and a child stayed with the car and were rescued. The husband set out to get help and died of exposure. If all three climbers had stayed in their snow caves, they'd have been found already, dead or alive. If they had brought radios or even cell phones they might have been able to find out that rescuers were on the way, and so they would have stayed put. If they'd brought MLUs they would have been relatively easy to find.

Obviously, it would be nice if it was required for all climbers of mountains like Mt. Hood to carry MLUs, not merely suggested. It would also be nice if it was required not only that those attempting to make such hazardous ascents be made to submit their itinerary to a real live human being (and to report back to that same office at the end of their trek) but that someone at the park service be given the responsibility for reading every single itinerary that is submitted. The false confidence engendered by the current system of handling these reports can cost people their lives.

But really, what reforms can be put into place to keep foolish people from doing foolish things like trying to climb an 11,000-foot-plus mountain in the dead of winter? It makes me sick to see the many news reports talk about this all-too-preventable tragedy as if it was some kind of surprising discovery that it's not easy to rescue people from the top of a mountain in the middle of December. We see the relatives of the lost climbers crying and thanking the rescue crews for their heroic efforts to save their loved ones. Well, rescue crews have fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, and children who love them, too. Why should the rescue teams risk their lives to save stupid-ass people who seem to think nothing of the possibility that, if they do get stuck 10,000 feet up the side of a mountain during a blizzard in December, human beings are going to be forced to gamble with their own lives to save the sorry asses of a trio of imbeciles?

It's one thing to have to ascend a mountain during the normal climbing season to save someone who was injured by a falling chunk of ice while hiking on a marked trail in the summer. That's an accident. This was no accident - it was a combination of hubris and thoughtlessness that proved fatal for these three "experienced" fools. I hope that none of the rescue crew members end up losing their lives trying to rescue three people who didn't stop to think about the value of the lives of the heroes who would be called in to save them if their junket went terribly wrong. I'd like to think that there's a point at which we can just say: "Hey, if you go out there and try to climb Mt. Hood in the dead of winter, boy, you're on your own. We are not going to come after you if you get yourself in a tight spot, so don't even bother to call"! Why not just set a date, say Nov. 1st, after which there will be no more alpine rescues available? Perhaps that would be more likely to cause people to reflect on the wisdom of embarking on such a patently stupid adventure as these men unfortunately set out to attempt: it might just save some lives. Giving not-so-clever people the impression that calling for a rescue from the top of a mountain in January is as easy as calling Domino's for a pizza delivery is bound to encourage more misadventures like this one.

And so we learn once again (why are some of us so stubborn?) that "a mountain is something you don't want to fuck with" - especially in the middle of the winter, no matter how "experienced" you think you are.

What is the point to print this diatribe? In fact, the three men who climbed up Mt. Hood had to be very experienced climbers -- nobody else would attempt to scale it in the winter. One does not need to live in a mountainous area to be an experienced climber; it is possible to travel to the West from NYC or Dallas, and there are plenty of tough mountains here in the Northeast. Every been up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire? I have, in late spring when there was still snow on the ground above the tree line. Mt. Washington is the toughest mountain to get up I have experienced, and I have been up a lot of mountains, in all parts of the country -- and that includes mountains higher than Mt. Hood. "Varlet" claims to not want to add to the families' suffering, but in fact Varlet's article is designed to do just that, inflict pain. Note the use of quotes around the word tragedy. Sorry, Varlet but your ignorant diatribe only reflects on you, not the mountain climbers. Oh, look at me, I'm just soooo radical, more radical than you!!, Varlet screams with his/her treatise. No, dear, you are not. Just ignorant. Those three people undoubtedly knew what risk they were taking. Just like I know what risks I take when I climb up high, exposed peaks on my own. Experienced climbers and hikers have no need of your "advice," Varlet. Please take your ignorance and go home, and leave the families of those three men on Mt. Hood in peace.

At your own risk.

Dec 19, 2006 02:10PM EST

marat

Far too many mountaineering deaths can be traced to an unwillingness to turn around and forgo 'bagging the summit' when the weather changes for the worse - which can happen in a heartbeat in the mountains. It's a lethal problem reinforced both by personal ambition and the uber commercialized, expensive, character of modern mountaineering. The bottom line in this stuff is adequate preparation and equipment, good training, experience,self-reliance,and good judgement. But even with all of these, things can go horribly wrong. Witness the tragic deaths of two of the most accomplished experienced US women climbers in the US - Sue Nott and Karen McNeil during an attempt to climb the "Infinite Spur" route on Mount Foraker in Denali.

Ooh! A hanging curve ball! Thanks, "another hiker"! I feel like Sammy Sosa right now, homing in on #66!

First of all, I know my article was extremely long, so it's unlikely that it's being read completely by most people. And I know from personal experience how much fun it is to just read a couple of paragraphs of an article, get pumped full of self-righteous indignation and fire a spitball right between the eyes of a writer. I try not to do that so much anymore, because often I find out that I look like a fool afterwards, usually once I go back and actually read the article that got me so fired up when I skimmed it the first time.

Unfortunately, "nyc climber", you exhibit many of the same traits I imagine your fellow NYC hiker possessed before he died this week on Mt. Hood. Because if you think that you can compare hiking Mt. Washington in New Hampshire with hiking Mt. Hood in Oregon, then you are not really qualified as an "experienced" mountain climber either. Mt. Washington is a bunny slope compared to Mt. Hood. In no way does an ascent of Mt. Washington, or two or three or a hundred ascents of Mt Washington (which requires absolutely NO specialized equipment) qualify you or anyone else for an ascent of really any one of the taller peaks of the Cascade range. I hope I am making myself clear on this point.

Mt. Washington, NH: 6,288 feet, has a toll road going up the side of it, which is how most tourists "climb" it in the summer. "Mount Washington, the highest point in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River and north of the Carolinas... can be reached via the Cog Railway on the west side and the Auto Road on the east side, or by foot on the vast network of hiking trails. The Cog Railway climbs directly to the summit (more or less) on its 3.1-mile track, while the 8-mile Auto Road winds its way up Chandler Ridge on the east side of the mountain.

"The summit campus consists of the Sherman Adams Summit Building (which houses the Mount Washinton Observatory), the newly-restored Tip Top House, the Yankee Building, WMTW-TV Station & towers, and the Stage Office at the end of the Cog trestle. Below the summit, two large parking lots mark the end of the Auto Road." (Source: Mt. Washington Observatory Website http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/maps.php)

Mt. Hood: 11,249 feet, isn't a mere mountain, it's a stratovolcano. An active stratovolcano. It has no toll road going to the top, and it has no marked trails to the summit or cog railway either; it's nearly twice as tall as Mt. Washington and has glaciers, and is covered with snow and fields of ice year-round. There are no restaurants or bathrooms to be found anywhere near the summit of Mt. Hood. All routes to the summit are "technical climbs", a phrase which very few people climbing the Catskills or the White Mountains are familiar with because none of the mountains in the Appalachians require specialized gear to make the ascent. Mt Washington is a genly sloping, heavily weathered dome of granite - the approach to the summit of Mt Hood features 60 degree climbing angles and sheer drops of more than 2500 feet. Take a look at the list I reproduced in my article showing the vast amount of gear you need to climb to the summit of Mt. Hood. When's the last time you took an ice axe or a pair of crampons, or a couple hundred feet of rope on one of your trips up Mt. Washington? And if you get tired once you get to the top of Mt. Hood, you can't just hang out in the parking lot and try to bum a ride back down the mountain in somebody's car, either.

I'm originally from Boston and I have climbed up Mt. Washington. Once. Do I think that makes me an "experienced" mountain climber? No, I do not. Yet it was quite an experience, and I learned a lot from it.

I climbed this mountain on a warm fall day back around 1978 with my Boy Scout troop. The weather was very warm for that time of year, in the 80s, so since we were only going on a day hike, we brought no equipment with us at all, aside from canteens, day packs with a couple sandwiches each, and that's about it. We didn't even bring a single flashlight with us, or any warm clothing. Most of the guys wore t-shirts and shorts and that was all they had for clothes. The only specialized equipment most of us had were basic hiking boots. At least one guy was just wearing a pair of Converse hi-tops. I thought it might get cool at the summit (I'd learned about the fact that the highest wind speed ever measured on Earth was recorded there - 231 MPH) so I brought a sweater, but I was wearing shorts, too.

Now, if you're really an "experienced" hiker, I can stop right here and you can finish the story yourself. Everyone who knows anything about hiking the mountains, ANY mountains can see that we were not too smart going up there like that.

We left a bit late, perhaps around 9:30 am, and began the ascent. The trail was well-marked, with stone cairns at various waypoints and even some wooden crosses showing where more than a few hikers have lost their lives on Mt. Washington. This surprised me when I saw these crosses. There were so many men, women and young children climbing the mountain: there's a road going up the side of it. How could someone die on a mountain so accessible? It's because of the way weather can change so suddenly in the mountains, as we would soon find out.

I forget where we started our climb; we started on another mountain and took a route across the peaks of a couple other members of the Presidential Range, which took us past the "Lakes in the Clouds" area - perhaps you're familiar with it. It was beautiful.

After 2 hours of hiking, it appeared that we were going to be on the summit in a metter of minutes. Then I learned a big lesson of mountaineering: in the mountains, distances are deceptive. We could see the weather station on Mt. Washington's summit quite clearly and it looked quite close. But as I tried to make out the trail leading up to it, I noticed these tiny little colored dots moving up the mountain some distance below the summit - in single-file like miniscule ants. They were hikers, and I realized that we had a long, long way to go.

We never got to the summit until about 1:30 that afternoon. Most of the people who had hiked up there in the morning were heading down by the time we got there. We hung out enjoying the view until 2-2:30 and then headed back down, thinking that the descent would be twice as fast as the climb. And it was - until the sun went down about 5PM and we found ourselves slowly picking our way along the trail in pitch darkness.

The temperature dropped from 80 degrees to 35 in less than an hour. I put on my sweatshirt but I was still freezing in my shorts; the other guys were definitely suffering from the cold and some were showing early signs of hypothermia. We were out of water and food. Fortunately, no one tripped and fell or got injured in any way.

It took us until about 9PM to get to the lodge at the foot of the trail. About 3/4 of a mile before we reached the lodge, we came across a big steel plaque bolted to a tree describing how two unfortunate men had frozen to death at that spot as they desperately tried to reach the lodge during a blizzard. It was not a comforting sight, believe me.

I was about 15 or 16 at the time, and it was my first time ever hiking in the Presidential Range. No one in our troop were mountaineers, obviously, though we had 2 Eagle scouts with us and our Scoutmaster and assistant scoutmaster both had military experience. We had extensive winter camping experience; we camped out 1 weekend a month all winter, no matter what the weather was. On one camping trip in February, the wind chill got down to -60 deg. F and most of us stayed out there all weekend. Yet we came very close to getting ourselves in big trouble on itty-bitty Mt. Washington during the climbing season.

Do I call myself an "experienced" mountain climber? No. But I have a lot more respect for the mountains thanks to that experience than many people do who should know better. Like you, perhaps?

Marat: thanks very much for the link to the story about Nott and McNeil. That's a true tragedy. Only 7 ascents in 30 years shows how difficult that route is; and it can't even be compared to an ascent of Mt. Hood, either. Mt Washington is to Mt Hood as Mt Hood is to the South Face of Mt Foraker. No merely "experienced" climber in his or her right mind would attempt Foraker's South Face. Nott and McNeil were actual expert mountain climbers who got conquered by the mountain; they weren't merely "experienced", whatever that means. They at least knew the risks they were taking; they must have planned for months if not years for their attempt and decided it was worth it to try to become the first women to make that ascent. Unfortunately, that achievement remains to be made by another expert team of women who will rise to that mighty challenge and, finally, succeed.

My main point in my article is that people should not be led to believe that if they choose to disregard the guidelines set down for when and how to climb a mountain in relative safety (guidelines which are based on the combined experiences of tens of thousands of climbers over hundreds of years) - if they choose to disregard that excellent advice and proceed into the gates of hell, they should not expect that someone is going to feel bound in any way to risk their life going after them trying to save them from themselves. Expert mountain climbers will not even attempt to climb Mt. Hood in the dead of winter - they don't tempt fate like that. They want to live to share the joy of climbing the mountains with their friends afterwards. It's not their goal in life to freeze to death in a snow cave at the top of Mt. Hood in late December. It's not mine either, and I would never ask someone to risk their life to save mine if I undertook such a dumb and dangerous expedition as these three overconfident climbers did this month in Oregon, against all intelligent advice and without even the most basic communication equipment they could use to effect a timely rescue. I really hope none of the rescuers die on thet mountain hunting for those two dead idiots this week. Qualified mountain rescue experts don't grow on trees, and their lives shouldn't be squandered in cases like this. We'll need them during the normal climbing season, when responsible hikers are scaling Mt. Hood by the thousands: some of them will undoubtedly get into trouble. At least they'll be attempting to climb the mountain when it's relatively safe to do so, and when it's relatively safe to mount a rescue mission, as well.

I propose that there be a cutoff date at the beginning of winter after which it is made clear to every idiot in the land that there will be NO more alpine rescue teams available to pull your nuts out of the fire should you and your friends stupidly endeavor to commit suicide on top of a mountain in mid-winter.

- V.

&quot;crampons&quot;

Dec 19, 2006 07:48PM EST

zomg lulz

You said "crampons" lolomg.

Yeah crampons - don't leave home without 'em

Dec 19, 2006 11:43PM EST

If you are climbing a Mtn.

* Crampons are a framework of spikes that are attached to boots to provide traction on snow and ice. General purpose crampons designed for most mountaineering and glacier travel are not well suited for ice climbing. For ice climbing, specialized crampons that provide better support for front pointing is advised. Most crampons require welted boots to ensure proper fitting. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crampons

More diatribes -- take a breath, please

Dec 20, 2006 12:20PM EST

Another hiker from NYC

More diatribes from "Varlet." Oh dear. I suppose I shouldn't bother since Varlet will unlease another book-length burst of self-righteous indignation. Sigh. You sure seem to have a lot of free time but since I don't, I will again be brief. In the real world, accidents happen. It's sad, it's tragic, but it's reality. Again, I note the use of quotes around the world "tragic" by Varlet. It seems s/he thinks it good that these three mountain climbers died. They made a bad choice, says Varlet, so they deserve to die. Oooooh, how radical! That's how the right wing thinks, especially our neocons and our Christian fundamentalists, so congratulations on keeping such good company.

Once again, just because somebody lives in the East doesn't mean they don't get to go up mountains. People can travel. Is Mt. Hood more difficult on average than Mt. Washington? I'd say so. But a "bunny slope"? Not even close, and Varlet only shows off his/her self-righteous ignorance. The true measure of a mountain is how high is the vertical assent, not the height above sea level. At Mt. Washington, you start at 2,000 feet elevation at Pinkham Notch. The top is 4,200 feet higher, and you reach the tree line -- that's where there are no more trees and you are completely exposed -- is only halfway up. Mt. Washington is said to have the country's worst weather, and that's no joke. It snows every month of the year up there, the winds average a good 50 miles per hour. It's often below zero up there and the world's highest wind speed, 230 miles per hour (that's not a typo), was recorded up there. I've been up mountains as high as 13,000 feet, but when the base is 10,000 feet and the weather is nowhere near as bad -- and the hiking conditions you must work through are not as difficult -- then, sorry, the mountain that is "only" 6,200 feet can be more difficult than one twice as high in terms of elevation. Something iike 150 people, maybe it's more, have died on Mt. Washington. Definitely not a "bunny slope" and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the highest toll of any montain in the country. Even if it's not, it's a testimate to how dangerous it is there.

But Mt. Washington is a side issue that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that three people have apparently met a tragic end. Believe it or not, Varlet, even working people go up mountains, and whether or not those three people on Mt. Hood are does not matter. That the corporate media latches on to a story -- in this case, simply because it makes a compelling story and for no other reason (not everything is political or a conspiracy) -- does not automaticaly mean the people being written about are automatically deserving of contempt. But that would require actually thinking about an issue, and it's so much easier to pretend to be a chic radical by posting reams of pointless rants. I think enough time has been wasted on Varlet and his/her fake radical, actually neocon worldview.

The United States has become a nation where it's expected that the government holds everyone's hand and makes sure that everyone's safe and protected with mountains of rules and regulations in place to keep people from hurting ot killing themselves -- and more regulations coming every day.

These three died because they died... No other reason. Experienced hikers and campers are often killed; it's not just the Republidiot gun nut morons who tromp out into the woods and wind up doing the country a favor by dieing.

Learning to pucker

Dec 21, 2006 03:58AM EST

marat

Again, despite the best precautions, training, gear, updated weather info, route finding skills and conditions assessment, shit happens on the mountain that you cannot prepare for or anticipate -- whether it's Shasta, Hood, Ranier, the Olympics, Tetons, any peak in the Columbia Icefields, St. Elias, Denali, or assorted Himalaya hills. And if you climb long enough, you will encounter that moment nof truth. That's where good judgement, experience, prudence and self-reliance pays off.

BTW, I live in Chicago, spent my high school years living in Anchorage learning to climb in the Alaska Range and have been climbing in the Canadian Rockies for more than 20 years. I've seen some great climbers from urban areas - although the lack of proximity to the mountains impedes your capacity to amass experience and sure as hell adds to the expense. Which is why so many good mountaineers I know work for starvation wages at service or retail jobs in small Rocky Mountain towns or in the Pacific Northwest - and like ski and board fanatics - or starving artists in many neighborhoods in Chicago and NYC, have unintentionally become the advanced elements for unrestricted gentrification... But that's another rant.

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